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Cuba holidays to the beat of the 2010 Drums Fiesta

From 9-14 March Havana will witness the 9th edition of the 2010 Drum Fiesta as the city gathers percussionists from various countries that come to perform with their Cuban counterparts and participate in a range of lively concerts and competitions.

In a musical fest like no other players from Venezuela, Canada, the US and Holland will soon be interacting with their Cuban hosts at the International Drum Festival 2010 and the International Contest Guillermo Barreto in Memoriam which will take place in Havana next week from 9th -14th March.

A great time for music lovers to come on Cuba holidays, this year’s Drum Festival will be presided by orchestra director Gerardo Piloto, honouring famous Cuban drum players Ricardo Abreu (Papin), Jesus Alfonso Miro, Roberto Garcia and Elio Reve.

Among the confirmed foreign guests taking the time to attend this lively and musically enriching event are Aldo Mazza (Canada), Memo Acevedo (US), Rene Engel (Holland) and Son PDVSA group (Venezuela).

The foreign group is to share stage with Cubans Amadito Valdes, a legendary member of the traditional Buena Vista Social Club, Tomas Ramos (El Panga), Jazzist Yaroldy Abreu and Samuel Formell from the famed Los Van Van salsa group.

Along the Festival there'll be the International Contest Guillermo Barreto in Memoriam to compete in five variants of the drum family: major, bongos, bata (djembe), set and bass.

The 9th event of this kind, this international festival is designed to promote the kind of Cuban folklore in terms of traditional music and jazz that can be experienced during Cuba holidays and which are one of the island’s most fascinating attributes – its musical diversity and outstanding quality of musicians and composers.

In statements to the Cuban News Agency (ACN), drummer Giraldo Piloto, director of Klimax and president of the event´s organising committee, said that the main representatives of today´s Cuban percussion world have been included in the program.

Piloto also dded that the event will in addition have a competitive section aiming at highlighting the talent of new artists in traditional Cuban music, that for which veteran performers such as Grammy-winning Omara Portuondo and Buena Vista Social Club are well renowned for.

This event provides an opportunity for exchange of knowledge between foreign artists and Cuban performers, demonstrating how far Cuba has developed in playing an ample gamut of percussion instruments. If enjoying the festival while on Cuba holidays you will see percussion and its reference in international creation, along with a contest, a theoretical encounter, conferences, master lectures and a range of concerts.

If you want to attend such a musically enriching event during your Cuba holidays the place to head down to is the Amadeo Roldan theatre and the America theatre, as well as by the Rumba Palace and the Salon Rosado de la Tropical cultural complex in Havana.